China tries to shift blame for being the world’s worst polluter by pushing the U.S. to be the world’s whipping boy.

An environmental nonprofit led by former Chinese Communist Party officials is funding federal climate research in the United States, according to a Washington Free Beacon analysis of tax filings and government documents.

The development raises questions about the extent to which China is influencing research and policymaking at the highest levels of the United States government.

The Energy Foundation—which is technically headquartered in San Francisco but operates out of an office in Beijing—sent $278,400 in 2020 to the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to fund green energy research, the nonprofit’s tax filings show. One year later, the group sent another $758,000 to the laboratory, pushing its total contributions over the $1 million mark.

The Free Beacon also points out that the Middle Kingdom also funneled money to U.S. universities and leftist groups in an effort to promote more climate-related efforts in the U.S. while, simultaneously, paying for propaganda through the Energy Foundation to put China in a more positive light.

Warfare isn’t conducted on battlefields much anymore, so regimes (like China) rely on spreading disinformation in the West in order to undermine them with the end goal of it benefiting said slave pens. It also makes sense as to why China will extend goodwill to pay for infrastructure or make loans available in foreign countries in an effort to gain influence.

Information warfare is the norm these days and China understands this well. Other countries, like the U.S., need to realize this and act accordingly.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay